New homeowner - what's in my yard?

Hi everyone,

We are a couple of former city apartment dwellers who just bought a house and are in way over our head with this whole yard thing. We are still in the city so it's a small yard, but we would like to make a lawn out of it.

Attached are some photos of things currently growing in our yard. The first 3 (the thing with purple berries, the curly thing, and the palm tree looking thing) are only located in certain areas. The 4th and 5th photos (same photo just zoomed in and out ) are of what is covering about 90% of the yard.

So is there anyone who can tell me:
1) What we have;
2) Whether it's harmful;
3) If it's harmful, how to get rid of it; and
4) How/whether we even can grow a lawn back here.

Any info that anyone can provide would be helpful. Thank you so much!!

Advertisement

New homeowner - what's in my yard?

Quote:

Originally Posted by stillxsearching

Hi everyone,

We are a couple of former city apartment dwellers who just bought a house and are in way over our head with this whole yard thing. We are still in the city so it's a small yard, but we would like to make a lawn out of it.

Attached are some photos of things currently growing in our yard. The first 3 (the thing with purple berries, the curly thing, and the palm tree looking thing) are only located in certain areas. The 4th and 5th photos (same photo just zoomed in and out ) are of what is covering about 90% of the yard.

So is there anyone who can tell me:
1) What we have;
2) Whether it's harmful;
3) If it's harmful, how to get rid of it; and
4) How/whether we even can grow a lawn back here.

Any info that anyone can provide would be helpful. Thank you so much!!

Pic 4 and 5 looks like Chick Weed , 1,2 looks similar to Spider Wort ( but probably not) that is competing with Chick Weed. The only thing I can tell you about pic 3 is it will leave your hands very sticky if you pull it.

If the pics are indicative of the whole yard I would suggest killing everything with glyphosate, till the soil and seed with a lawn grass seed that is typically grown in your area. I recommend a professional to work with on the tilling, compacting and seeding. Lawns are an ongoing maintenance item so don't even think you are done at that point.

There is so much trash on this subject on the net.com I recommend getting a book from the library.

New homeowner - what's in my yard?

New homeowner - what's in my yard?

All normal weeds...wild onion..chick weed which is very hard to get rid of because it braids itself into the grass blades...I had the same issue. What I did was rented a sod cutter to off 3 inches and then went down another three after. New top soil and seed or sod. now u don't have to do that. U can get on the ground and loosen them up and yank them from the root. That sell a chickory puller. Or use a butter knife.....then once they are all out soil and seed. They come back though. My modo is pull the weeds instead of chemicals. The chemicals just make them go away at the top meanwhile they grow a larger root bed...yank um..!!!

New homeowner - what's in my yard?

Just weeds, like your grass, which is actually a weed. You cannot put down Pre-Emergent, since it is too late for most areas, but really depending on where you are, you may still have time to do it. Otherwise, just put down some Late Spring Weed & Feed. It can take up to two years of continuous treatment, with fertilizer, Winterizer, Pre-Emergent to get things back in order.

Stay away from Scott's or Tru-Green, since I have learned over years, that they are good for a short term, but long term not very good. I used Tru-Green, when we first moved in, due to our yard was taken over by Wild Violet, but learned very quickly to go out after a rain storm, and putt it out, when the ground was wet, since stuff like Wild Violet has to be removed completely, not just pulled from the top.

Also if you have trees, and I am not say Pine trees, but like Oak, Maple, Sycamore, mulch the leaves into the soil, then come Spring De-Thatch to help the fertilizer get down to the roots and same for the weed & feed, so they can do their job.

New homeowner - what's in my yard?

Think about learning to garden...flowers and/or vegetables. Much more fun than mowing and applying chemicals and poisons to grass! Go to your local garden center with pictures and measurements and ask for help. You don't have to plant everything the first year. Maybe this year you put in your "foundation" plants.....an ornamental tree and a couple of shrubs. Then this summer put in a few annuals for color.

This fall, plant tulips and daffodils etc for spring 2014 color. Gradually add in perennials and expand your beds. You can always keep enough lawn to have a place for a couple of lounge chairs.

I work in a family owned greenhouse, nursery and landscape center in the upper Midwest and there's nothing I love more than a new gardener coming in for help! It's a lot of fun to work with them over the seasons and see their knowledge and excitement grow as they learn more.

New homeowner - what's in my yard?

Here's some ideas for a small backyard... You can really do a lot, that back lot was 30x30 and north facing, but in summer it got full sun all year... We had every veegtable possible, raspberries, strawberries, roses...